[Correlation between Campylobacter pylori and chronic atrophic gastritis]

The correlation between urease activity of Campylobacter pylori and atrophic gastritis was studied. On the basis of fundamental study on the optimal pH of C. pylori urease activity, urease activity of 38 biopsied specimens were measured under pH 5 condition, and compared with the positive ratio of C. pylori. In this study, sensitivity was 86.7%, and specificity was 87.0%, respectively. Mean urease activity of C. pylori positive specimens was 3.69 mIU/mg protein, and under this condition, C. pylori was likely to produce ammonia of 0.0218 mumole per minute, enough to damage the gastric mucosa. In addition, there was encountered high urease activity in the specimens which showed moderate glandular atrophy and severe mucosal inflammation. In conclusion, urea-urease-NH3 sequence is most likely to have some association with gastric glandular atrophy.